ARISTIDE ECONOMOPOULOS/THE STAR-LEDGERPatrons pack the Arena Bar on Mulberry Street in Newark prior to the Bon Jovi concert at the Prudential Center.

Here's an inside -- and outside -- look at the food scene at tonight's opening of the Prudential Center in Newark:

-- Hobby's, the landmark deli two blocks west of the arena, opened for dinner for the first time since the Newark riots of 1967. At 5:45 tonight, there were nearly 20 customers, "not bad," according to Sam Brummer, who has owned the deli since 1962. While his family chowed down on open-face turkey platters and thick club sandwiches, Chuck Brodheim of Monmouth Junction (who'd never been to Newark before) said, "You can't go wrong with a deli like this."

-- Other restaurants around the arena did not appear to be capitalizing on the pre-concert crowd. The fast-food eateries along Market Street boasted only a few customers each. At a Chinese buffet a block south of the arena, a hand-written sign in the window read, "Welcome Bon Jovi and friends. Great food, great price." It was empty at 6:10 p.m.

-- Though arena officials said there wouldn't be tailgating, a group of Bon Jovi fans in the parking lot south of the arena didn't get the memo. They grilled hot dogs and hamburgers in the bed of their pickup truck. "I didn't see any sign," one of the tailgaters said innocently.

-- Inside the arena, there were long but moving lines for food in the bar areas; just before My Chemical Romance took the stage, the bar in the Fire Lounge was four-people deep. At the Ice Bar, patrons wowed over the bar, made of actual ice. "I may not even go down to my seat," said Phil Pollicove of Marlboro.

-- There were glitches: Some equipment was on the fritz, and some of the food had not been delivered or unstocked. At 6:45 p.m., the only beers available at the Beers of Newark booth were Bud and Bud Light. A few of the beer taps weren't working up to snuff. A pizza oven had been fired up late and still wasn't ready for baking.

-- Hobby's has a deli stand in the "Taste of Newark" section of the arena, and they were still waiting on their kettle chips at 7 p.m. Owner Michael Brummer said he didn't have the luxury of a soft opening. "You're opening the door for 17,000 people." Still he said, "It's a phenomenal place. How can you get aggravated?"